Category: 2. Middle East

The Syrian government and DP World signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth $800 million to develop Syria’s port of Tartous, Syrian state news agency SANA said today, after the lifting of US sanctions cleared the way for the deal, Reuters reports.

The deal to develop, manage and operate a multi-purpose terminal at Tartous includes cooperation in establishing industrial and free trade zones. DP World is a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates…

Israel responded to peace efforts by launching more deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.

In an interview with CNN, coinciding with Qatar’s reception of US President Donald Trump and hosting a new round of negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza yesterday, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman said that Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip this week confirm its lack of interest…

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has proposed a further loosening of European sanctions on Syria to allow funding for Syrian ministries in areas including reconstruction and migration, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss the relationship with Damascus at a meeting in Brussels next…

Paris has filed a case against Tehran at the top UN court over two French citizens who have been held in Iran for three years, the French foreign minister said on Friday.

The announcement comes as Iranian negotiators are set to meet with their counterparts from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in Turkey on Friday for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Cecile Kohler, a 40-year-old literature teacher from eastern France and her partner Jacques Paris, in his 70s, were arrested on May 7,…

US President Donald Trump on Friday capped off a Gulf tour in Abu Dhabi that has seen the securing of multi-billion-dollar deals, a $1.4 trillion investment pledge from the UAE, as well as historic overtures to Syria and renewed optimism over an Iran nuclear deal.

On his first foreign tour of his second term, Trump oversaw a $200 billion order from Qatar Airways for Boeing jets and a $600 billion investment from Saudi Arabia — including nearly $142 billion in weapons, which the White House…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced openness Thursday to any new ideas to bring aid into Gaza after a US- and Israeli-backed plan was sharply criticised, expressing concern over the humanitarian situation in the territory.

A new US-backed foundation on Wednesday announced a plan to begin distributing aid later this month in Gaza, where Israel has cut off food and other humanitarian supplies for more than two months.

“We’re troubled by the humanitarian situation there,” Rubio told…

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced Thursday that his country plans to invest $1.4 trillion in the US during the next decade, Anadolu reports.

The announcement came during talks with US President Donald Trump at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi.

Channeled through Emirati investment institutions, the investments target sectors of the new economy, energy, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and industry, he…

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas warned Thursday that failure to implement recent understandings with the US on a Gaza ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid will harm efforts to advance prisoner exchange negotiations, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, Hamas said Monday’s release of Israeli American soldier Edan Alexander was part of efforts to open Gaza’s crossings and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in the enclave.

“We expect, based on the understandings reached…